Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1887-09-01

just after the garden had been opened. An old
cage containing lioness had been Temporal
rlly placed in what was known as the elephant
house." A donkey was kept for light hauling
around the place, for children riding and
miscellaneous use. One evening the boy who
had been hauling some load about the
place unhitched and took him TO the
elephant house to feed and stable him,
no regard being paid the Gagged lion
ess, who was supposed to be perfectly
secure. The latter would seem to have re-
sented the donkey's presence, for she got
angry, sprang against the side of the cage SO
fiercely that she went through charged on
the donkey and drove him out of the house,
while the boy fled in mortal terror and gave
the alarm. The ioness pursued the trem-
bling donkey, who thereupon got mad and
fought with the instinct of self preservation
and the courage of despair. The lioness
sprang upon him and clawed great flakes of
flesh off his shoulders. Like lightning the
donkey turned and kicked his assailant in the
ribs till they rang. The house stood on
gentle slope. Down the hill rolled the ami
mails, the lioness clawing, snarling and biting,
the donkey biting, striking with its forefeet
and, whenever occasion allowed, kicking
declivity the donkey got fairly on its feet
and got in such effective kicks that
the ioness drew off into the bushes
for repairs and the victorious donkey
went off it search of a surgeon. By this time
a dozen Of the garden employees had gathered
at the scene. They thought they could drive
the escaped lioness back to her cage with
clubs and stones But her blood was up. She
in tba
precisely the same spot, and was shot dead in
return. The bitten men were not seriously
hurt, but the best medical skill failed to keep
the donkey alive longer than few days.
Ever since, until lately, the stuffed skin Of
the unpretentious but altogether surprising
donkey has held place of honor in the house
of the Carnivora.
There is one romance connected with the
history of the garden which has never before
been in print; in fact, only within a short
time was it known to even the directors them
selves, and dozen people kept it as a re-
ligious secret for half as many years Some
years ago one of the head keepers, who had as
a sweetheart one of the prettiest girls in the
neighborhood, bantered her to 60 with him
into the cages of the several animals in the
varnivora house. For him 1t was nothing, -
was used to it, but he probably never dreamed
that she would accept. But she did. She for
lowed him into the cage of the magnificent
specimens of Bengal tigers, and thence into
the home of the hyenas and the leopards, the
panthers, the sun bears, the lions, and all the
fierce fellows in the collection, and not once
did she tremble or show any sign of fear.
Not one woman in ten million would have
done such a feat, and none knew it bet
ter than the man who was with her.
Whether they had settled on it before,
or whether he then utterly lost his heart to
the woman who trusted so completely in his
ability to protect her from such dangers as
he led her through that day, nobody exactly
knows But the fact was they were married
soon afterwards, and the heroine Of that adj
venture is handsome matron today, who
would scout the idea of repeating her dare
devil trick of few years ago, though her
husband still feeds the lions and tigers, and
yet goes into their cages without thought
OF being afraid-whenever it is necessary.
ARTHUR LAWSON.